Post navigation

“Quakers say keep fossil fuels in the ground” – sorry but for every kilowatt of wind or solar electricity we rely on for electricity production we will need an equally large reliable back-up source to cover windless nights when there will be practically zero renewables. Those periods may be early evening in February when national electricity demand is at it’s highest – about 50gb. Nuclear, coal, wood chips, hydro, wave power – you work out the practicality of each over the next couple of decades and the costs in terms of finance, environment and energy security. At the moment I suspect there is no alternative but for fossil fuels to play a part in our core electricity production.

Just to note that the Guardian reports tha about 6% of gas used in the UK comes from Qatar, the same paper says that in Qatar “Islam is the official religion and only Muslims are permitted to worship publicly. Those who convert from Islam risk banishment, violence and death.”. I find it morally repugnant that Quaker demonstrators should campaign against the development of home produced gas while presumably benefitting from imported gas in their own homes. The issues of UK energy production are about balancing three factors, environmental concerns, cost, and security of supply.